Competition Day
I awake for the competition in complete dizziness. My mind is all boggled up and my body is trembling in sadness that I have to get up and ready. I have never liked waking up for competitions. Ever. Like whenever I have to do a dance. I am always so unmotivated and tired. But, then my mom tries to perk me up a little which wakes me up a bit more so I can at least dance. You know?
I struggle to my clothing drawers and pick out my official pink and black ALDC jacket with my name in sparkly sequins on the back. And my sweatpants that go along with it. I also pick out a simple pink short sleeved shirt.
I slide my clothes on and grab my sequined brush. I go through my rugged hair in disgust of it. After that, I grab a hair elastic and wrap my hair into it. I just could not look at my hair any longer.
I walk out of my room tired and hungry. I head downstairs and hoping to find food on the table. I found a pop tart and a glass of Orange juice. My mom was rushing to get Maddie ready. She was grabbing all the make up and the hair supplies. I do not even know what time it is. I get to the bottom of the stairs and glance at the clock on the microwave. It is 6 o'clock on the dot. We have to be at the studio at 6:45. So, we have some time. I do not get why my mom is rushing so much.
I head to the table and start munching on my pop tart. It was a creamy strawberry pop tart. My favorite flavor of pop tarts. Maddie already ate because she woke up earlier than me to get ready. That is what she usually does. Mom always lets me sleep in a little on competition days. Maddie always freaks out on competition days. I have no idea why? She is just under too much stress nowadays. It's crazy.
I glimpse at my last itty, bitty piece of my pop tart and them I throw it into my starving mouth, then I take a big gulp of orange juice. It was the last of it anyways. Why let it go to waste? As I clean up my breakfast, I glimpse at the time. 6:28. We had to head to the studio now and fast. We were going to be late for our bus. I scream to my mom and she is already packed and about to head out the door. Maddie sprints out to the car and slams the door tight. Mom grasps my arm with her empty hand and she pushes me toward the car. I sprint to the car like Maddie did, while Mom was locking the door and bringing all of our necessities for the competition. It is 6:34 and we head out as soon as possible. She slams the car keys into the ignition and pulled out of our driveway so fast, you probably wouldn't have time to blink.
6:44 AM, 1 minute til the bus leaves
We pull into the studio and park messily into our parking spot. We open our doors in a heartbeat and sprint right towards our bus. Thank God they didn't leave without us. It wouldn't be the same. At all. We tucked in all of our makeup and sorts and sat down panting heavily. Everyone gave us weird looks, but they knew we were in a hurry to our competition. Miss Abby Walks up to the front of the bus and announces:
" Okay girls! Time for our competition at Starbound! You all have to be in your best behavior and remember, you are representing me when you dance. I can create you future. Okay, let's get the show on the road! Bus driver?" Miss Abby says while glancing at every single girl on our bus.
"Yep, on our way" The bus driver says solemnly as he hits the gears.
All the girls talk about the competition in the back of the empty bus. I am with my Mom trying to get a little bit more sleep....
Starbound Competition: 8: 06 AM, 54 minutes until competition starts
I awake as I realize that we have arrived at our destination: Starbound Competition. Mom shakes me a bit on my sore shoulder as I rub my eyes gently. She re-does my hair so I don't look like a total freak. Then, I start getting off the bus as Mom gets Maddie and our over sized luggage. I mean seriously, it's huge. Mom and Maddie catch up to me as they are in a rush to get ready and rehearse. I had nothing to do, basically. I have to perform nothing. Nothing. It felt good not to worry this time around.
We head off the bus and fastly jog to the crowded doors full of people with fully done makeup and perfect, beautiful costumes. I look at our girls and they don't even had their hair done. Maybe there is something to worry about today. We finally make it through the seemingly small doors and check in with the director of the competition.
Miss Abby checks us in and we head to find our makeup/hair/rehearsal space. We walk for about 2 minutes and find our room with the company's name on the door: ALDC. Good to be noticed. We open the door fastly and head to our separate stations. We set all of our things down and get prepared for the competition. The time is 8:20. We still have 40 minutes left at least.
My Mom and all the other moms have their separate stations set up, and the girls get ready for the first dances. The solos are up first. Maddie, Chloe. Then the group dance, then the trios. Well trio and duet. Nia and Paige are doing a duet instead of the trio since I can't be in it. Not fair.
8:38- 22 minutes til competition starts
All the girls are dressed in their first dance outfits, so Chloe, and Maddie are dressed in their solo wear, and the rest are dressed for the group routine. They start rehearsing their solos and Miss Abby critiques their moves they have to improve on. Maddie is up first since she is ready first. She gets in her first position gracefully, and graciously. I have always loved watching Maddie dance. So elegantly,smoothly.
Next was Chloe. She is the same kind of dancer, but she like rarely wins first in her division. Cause of Maddie. Chloe was just so perfectly refined and a absolute perfectionist. I loved her dancing.
We all wish them go luck and they head out. I hope they don't make any mistakes. I am crossing my fingers tight Maddie wins!
9:00 AM- Competition starting
We all take our seats and wait for the solos to go on. We hear the announcer for the competition, he says:
" And now for a solo, number 877, this is Maddie with The Tears On My Pillow"
Everybody claps and sits in their seats as they prepare to watch Maddie. She walks on stage with an enormous grin and opportunity. She begins and I love it. It's so sad and graceful, I love it. Her leaps, turns, everything. After a few seconds, Maddie's dance is over and she heads off gracefully with her head up high. I love it.
" And now for a solo, number 928, this is Chloe with Breaking Heart"
We do the same. We clap for her, mostly Christi, and then we take our seats and watch Chloe perform. Her solo is a little more aggressive in the routine, but still lyrical. She uses so much emotion and character. Almost as good as Maddie, but still a little worse. After a minute or so, she ends on the floor with a hand on her heart and emotionally walks off, while everybody clapped and cheered and everything.
That was all of the solos. Time to prepare for the next number.
We get back to our room and everybody prepares for the group number. Paige and Brooke are already ready for it since they didn't have a solo. I tried to preoccupy myself while they got ready and rehearsed. I started to play with my wavy hair a bit, then I looked through the makeup and hair supplies. Kept me occupied until they were about to go on stage. They were all wearing cyan booty shorts, cyan top with tons of sequins, and a bright cyan bow to match their entire outfit on their heads. Cute. Wish I could've worn it. Nope. Not going to happen. Miss Abby prepares them before they go on and they had left to go backstage. We all headed back to our seats in the overflowed auditorium. Our seats were reserved, good thing no one stole our seats.
We waited, and waited, and waited for the group number. It seemed like forever. Then, we heard the emcee say:
" Now for junior group, this is number 452, Bright Light Ahead"
Now I understand the costumes. They are wearing bright colors. You know cuz' it's called Bright Light Ahead. Duh. I'm such a nutcase.
It's a jazz routine sort of and they all seem to enjoy it. It's upbeat, fun, and a total workout. I can hear the jazz's shoes tips and heels hit the stage as they dance. Their movements so happy and exciting, it makes me want to be in it so bad. Ughh, I'm thinking about that again.The group routine finished and we all cheered. Abby must have been impressed because she was grinning and clapping her hands cheerfully. They exit the stage and we all arise and head back to the dressing room. Same stuff. Same routine. Ughhh.
We all await for their arrival back into the dressing room. Christi, Kelly and Mom all prepare for Maddie's, Chloe's, and Brooke's trio. Also, Holly and Kelly prepare for their duet. It would be my mom preparing for me, but nooooo.
They arrive back into the dressing room and we clap for them once more. They all head to their moms. They all sit down as they do their makeup and hair. The trio's hair is in a french twist and the duet's hair is in a high ponytail with a vibrant bow. I would have worn that.
The trio is in flowy, colorful dresses. Maddie in purple, Chloe in pink, and Brooke in blue. The duet is wearing a crop top like for a leotard and tights that look like tight sweatpants. Their colors are a vibrant pink top and a mix of blue and pink for the bottoms. They looked gorgeous. All of them. They finish getting ready and they head out prepared. At least I hope. Please do amazing guys, please.
We head back to the auditorium and find our seats. Good thing their dances are back to back. First up is the trio.
"And now coming up to the stage is a trio, please welcome number 564, this is Everyday is a Memory" The announcer said as they all walked out gracefully onto the grand stage waiting for their music to play.
It is a very creative routine. Very graceful and elegant, full of emotion. Perfect for Maddie, and them. They finish a few minutes later and we do over the same routine we did for the first 3 dances. We sit down and hear:
"And now coming up to the stage is duet, please welcome number 157, this is Picking The Right One" He says while doing the same as he did before. They both walk out very spunky and sassy. Must be another upbeat routine. Makes me have more high energy.
It is an acro routine. I should have done that! That is my thing! Not theirs, well, they are very good also. But, I like the routine. Lots of back bends and splits and walkovers. Very fun. Not for me though. They finish in a straddle split facing towards each other. We go through the same thing once more and we head back out to the dressing room to congratulate them.
We await for their arrival again. They head in in complete and udder happiness.
"Whoa!! We did it!" They all cheered as they entered the room, with us covering our ears.
"Good job girls!" Christi said as she gave Chloe a big motherly hug.
"Thanks" They had said in unison.
Miss Abby had walked back in clapping with us. She seemed very pleased. Thank God!
"Good Job girls!" Miss Abby said kind of copying Christi. They had the same answer.
"Thanks," They said repeating it over again. They all raced to hug Miss Abby, but she wanted a hug after they've won. She wants to know that they are actually winners, instead of just acting like them. Sometimes she can be so confusing.
AWARDS
We watch as the stage curtains open and see all the competitors cheering and jumping around happily like they've already won. We as the audience, cheer and clap for them as we await the awards. Then the announcer comes up to up stage right and starts with solo awards.
"Second place junior solo goes to, number 928 Chloe with Breaking Heart" Chloe walks up cheerfully to receive her award and stands right next to the third place winner. Then, " Your top overall junior soloist this evening is, number 877 Maddie with the Tears on My Pillow" My mom and I cheer happily as Maddie heads up to receive her first place award right next to Chloe. They all bow on stage and they walk back to their teammates as they await for the next award. Christi rolls her eyes because Maddie won, not Chloe. She has to get used to that.
Then, a few minutes later, he comes up and starts announcing duos and trios.
"Fourth place duo/trio is going to number 157 Picking The Right One, Nia and Paige" They both got up slowly in awe and walked to get their award. At least they placed in top five. Miss Abby didn't even clap for them. She doesn't like any place below first. Then, " Third place duo/trio is going to number 168 Making Mistakes, Rachael and Dana" We didn't really care. We just waited anxiously for Maddie's, Chloe's, and Brooke's number. "Now your top scoring duo/trio is going to number 564 Everyday is a Memory Maddie, Chloe, and Brooke" He announces with excitement and all three head up to claim their reward. We all cheered and so did Miss Abby. At least one of the duo/trios won.
Then, about 15 minutes later, group numbers.
" Second place is going to number 613, Going To The Top" We kinda clapped cause we were waiting for first. Obviously, that number didn't go to the top. " Your top overall group routine is, number 452, Bright Light Ahead" He announced as we got up from our chairs and cheered cheerfully as they all raced up to claim their award. "What is the name of your studio, girls?" He asked. "Abby Lee Dance COMPANY!!!!" They shouted as everybody clapped and such. That was it for awards. They closed the curtains and we headed back to the dressing room.
"YAYYYYYYYYYYYYY, WE WON!!!!" All the girls screamed as they entered the dressing room. They all went to their mothers and hugged them tightly. Then, Miss Abby walked in and they released their mothers and ran to Miss Abby.
"Great Job Girls! We won!" She shouted and all the girls crowded around her. "C'mon let's do our cheer. Hands in" She said as everyone in the room, including me, went up in circle and put our hands in and said:
" One, Two, Three. We are Abby Lee. Four, Five, Six. You should see our kicks. Seven and Eight. We are really great. Nine and Ten. We just won again!!!!" The shouted as their hands released from the circle and went to pack up their stuff.
15 MINUTES LATER
Everybody finished packing and they were heading to the bus with their awards in hand. They were prepared to sleep. Same here. I was exhausted even though I didn't dance. I didn't do a thing today that was dance related, so I shouldn't be tired.
We packed up our things into the bus and we took our seats and started to doze off. I sat with Mom and I rested near her.
I dozed off and daydreamed of next week when I can dance....